Famous teapot by Gu Zingzhou

This is a teapot made by Gu Zingzhou in the 1950s. It was reported that he made a total of 5 such teapots and he got the famous artist Wu Hufan painted on them. He then gave them away to the artist and other famous artists of the time such as Tang Yun. He himself kept one.

This teapot is a modification of a design by Chen Mansheng, a Scholar in the late Qing dynasty. Chen himself was not a potter, but a magistrate who liked Yixing tea-ware. As such, he engaged the famous potter of the time,  Yang Pengnien and his sister to make the teapots he had designed.

I don't quite like the original design by Chen as I felt that the mouth of the teapot was a bit small. The overall teapot is lacking in style and elegance. Gu's modified design looks grand and rich in shape and contour. Of course with the engraving of a famous artist, this teapot is unique in itself. It represented the works of two famous masters of the time.

Chen Mansheng's teapot

The Gu Zingzhou's teapot was auctioned a few years ago in China for millions of RMB.

Interestingly, I also own such a teapot (of course not by Gu Zingzhou). I did not buy from any shops. It was left behind by a tenant (from China) who rented my apartment a few years ago. It was put inside a cupboard. Obviously, when the tenant moved out, he could have forgotten that there was a teapot he left behind in the cupboard.

As I do not have such a teapot design in my collection, I gladly kept it for myself. 

Teapot left behind by someone